Feeding mechanism for punching or like machines.



No. 836,423. v PATENTED NOV. 20, 1906. A. WILZIN. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PUNGHING 0R LIKE MACHINES.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 11, 1905.

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PATBNTBD NOV. 20, 1906.

A. WI LZIIN., FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PUNOHING 0R LIKE MACHINES;

' APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1905,

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PATENTED NOV. 20, 1906.

A. WILZIN. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PUNOHING OR LIKE MACHINES.

. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1905.

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No. 836,423; PATENTBD NOV. 20, 1906.

' A. WILZIN.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PIUNGHING OR LIKEMAGHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1905.

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By I Aria/ways, Vflimjwb THE mamas PETERS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR WVILZIN, OF OIJIOHY, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO E. W. BLISS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR PUNCHING OR LIKE MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 20, 1906.

Application filed January 11, 1905. Serial No- 240,590.

T0 all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR WILZIN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Olichy, Seine, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism for Punching or Like Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to stamping, punching, and such like machines, and has for its object to provide a device for enabling the sheets of cardboard, metal, or other mate rial to be fed by hand and its successive positions determined automatically and with. absolute regularity and accuracy. By this means the maximum economy of material may be obtained by operations which are very simple and rapid and by a mechanism which is exceedingly simple. The feeding device is capable of being adapted to existing punching or stamping machines or to various other types.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention.

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the spacing of the successive punchings. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively a vertical section and a plan of a machine embodying the invention. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a plan and a section on the line A A of Fig. 4 of another embodiment. Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a plan and a section on theline B B of Fig. 6 of another embodiment. Figs. 8 and 8 are adjacent halves of a plan of another embodiment. Figs. 9 and 10 are vertical sections on the lines 0 O and D D of Fig. 8.

The feeding device as illustrated comprises acarriage providedwith jaws in which the sheet to be punched is clamped and movable along one or more guide-bars provided at intervals corresponding to the distance between two consecutive punchings with notches, holes, or studs with which a stud or groove in the carriage engages after each initial movement of the latter. said carriage on the completion of each row also receives a movement in a transverse direction equal to the distance apart of the rows of punchings, whereby the notches, holes, or studs on the guide-bar upon which the carriage is shifted into this new position are caused to occupy the middle of the intervals comprised between the notches, holes, or studs corresponding to the preced- The ing line of punchings, so as to permit of obtaining punchings in quincunx order.

The stud may either be integral with the carriage or movable, so as to obviate thenecessity of the operator having to shift the sheet each time in a transverse direction relatively to the grooves for the purpose of shifting the carriage from one notch to the next. In this latter case after the descent of the tool the stud is disenagaged from the notch with the aid of a suitable device, and it thus becomes easy to slide the carriage freely in a parallel direction to the grooves. Moreover, in order to render the guiding automatic the stud is pressed toward the notches by means of a spring, so that, having commenced to slide the carriage in the direction of the next notch, it is only needed to release the device which controls the stud to enable the latter on arriving opposite to the next notch to engage itself therein and so retain the carriage in the desired position.

The invention is shown, by way of example, as applied to a punching-machine, a being a table which is bolted to the ordinary table and made of rather wider dimensions than usual, whose upper surface is provided with a number of rectilinear guide-bars b, one vertical wall of which. is notched,the notches 0 being arranged at regular intervals. The space between the bars corresponds to the distance between the center lines of successive rows of blanks and that between the notches to the distance between the centers of two consecutive blanks in the same row.

A carriage d is mounted to slide on the bars I), being provided with jaws e, in which, by means of the lever f and the handle 9, the sheet h may be clamped. A straight-edge t, integral with andprojecting from the bottom of the carriage, slides in the groove 1) between two bars I), thus insuring that the carriage shall move in a regular manner relatively to the edges of the grooves b, the straight-edge being provided at the middle of its length with a lug which engages with the notches c. A guide-stop 7c is fixed, by means of a locking-screw or other suitable device, to a bar Z, projecting outward from the end of the table, so as to be capable of adjustment according to the dimensions of the sheets to be operated on.

The operation of the device is simple and may be readily understood. The sheet having been placed against the guide-stop 7c and clamped in the jaws of the carriage, the lat ter, which is placed immediately above a groove, is moved from right to left by means of handle g, the straight-edge i being caused to slide in the groove in contact with the serrated edge thereof. Each time the lug engages with a notch c the workman depresses the treadle, thus throwing the machine into action and causing the punch to descend. The first blow punches out a blank, as at m, and by continuing thus the first row of blanks is struck out, after which the straight-edge i is removed from the first groove and placed in the second, and so on for the remaining rows of blanks to be punched out.

It will be readily understood that as many grooves b and notches c as are requisite for the dimensions of the sheet may be provided and that the sheet will always be punched, as shown in the diagram Fig. 1.

It is evident that the construction of the device may be modified, the notches c of guide-bars 1) being replaced by studs and the under side of the carriage being provided with a groove corresponding to the bars and furnished with a recess to receive the studs. The guide-bars might equally well be integral with as removably fixed to the table.

When the machine is used only for punching blanks, they will be fed out through an aperture in the table; but if, on the other hand, the blanks are to be both punched and stamped by means of combination-tools, the blanks requiring to be removed from above, the machine is preferably inclined in such a manner that the blanks may slide away oil the table by their own weight. The waste material is carried away down slopes arranged at each side of the tool.

In exceptional cases where it would not be practical for successive punchings to be so close together as not to leave any material between them there may be attached to the tool-carrier slide-knives adapted to remove the excess material step by step with the feed of the sheet.

Preferably there is provided at about the middle of the table a spring 17., on which the sheet is supported, this spring being so weak that the carriage in its travel can pass over it. When the carriage has moved beyond the spring, the latter will no longer be required, the dimensions of the sheet then being too inconsiderable to necessitate supplementary support.

In the modification represented in Figs. 4 and 5 the table a is provided with a series of fixed bars I), slightly overlapping one another, so as to leave between them grooves 6 parallel to the direction of the lines of blanks to be punched. Upon the upper side of these bars a carriage (1 slides, provided upon its under face with a rib iof corresponding section to that of the grooves b, so

as to insure the perfect guiding of the carriage. The notches c in this arrangement are replaced by cylindrical holes made in the flanges of the guide-bars b, forming the bottoms of the grooves b, at distances apart corresponding to two consecutive blanks in the same row. A bolt j is adapted to engage in the holes a, said bolt being fitted to slide in an aperture made in the carriage and controlled by a Bowden flexible transmission device 0. This is a well-known device comprising an inner-very flexible cable in a somewhat stiif outer casing, which tends to hold its shape when the inner cable is pulled, and thus acts as an unyielding guide for the flexible cable, though yielding sufficiently to follow the movements of the carriage. The bolt can be withdrawn from the recess 0 by acting on lever 19, after which the carriage d can be readily slid toward the next hole which is to determine the position of the car riage for the following punching operation. A spring g, Fig. 5, serves to draw the bolt 7' downward, so that the operator after having withdrawn the bolt from its hole needs to simply slide the carriage in a lateral direction without troubling to find the position of the following hole, as the bolt will be caused under the action of its spring to enter said hole immediately it arrives above it. The flexible transmission device 0 may also be connected with the crank-shaft of the press, so as to be actuated automatically at each stroke.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the notches c are formed in the vertical faces of the fixed guide-bars b, the sliding bolt in this case moving in a horizontal direction.

Figs. 8 to 10 show another modification, in which the carriage is fitted to slide upon a single guide-bar, which is capable of being shifted parallel to'itself. The apparatus comprises a bar I), engaging at its opposite ends in slides r 1", which are adjustable in position upon bars 3 s, disposed perpendicularly to the bar I) and fixed to table a. The bar I) is provided upon its upper face with cylindrical holes 0, the spaces between which correspond to the distance between the center lines of two consecutive blanks. The bar I) is adjustable in slides r r and is capable of occupying two positions in these latter, so arranged that in the second position the holes a will be placed at the middle of the intervals separating said holes in the first position of bar I), the bar being held in each of these positions by means of spring-pressed bolts 25 25, carried by slides 1" 1" and engaging in one of two holes a u in bar I) in such manner that when one of the bolts t, for example, is engaged in the corresponding hole a in the latter the other hole u will be beyond the other bolt 25 a distance equal to half the interval separating two consecutive holes 0. The car- IOU riage d is provided with a bolt 9', as in the pre- I 0 vious arrangement, controlled by a flexible transmission device 0 of the Bowden type and engaging in the holes 0 of bar I). The carriage, in order to facilitate its movement, is provided with rollers 0, running upon the upper face of bar I), and also with rollers to, running upon the table a. The carriage is also further provided with a clamp consisting of a pair of jaws, the one, 6, being fixed and the other, e, movable, between which the sheet of metal to be punched is clamped. The closing of the jaws is effected by acting on handle g, whereby the pair of cams g 9 connected together by rod g, are caused to act upon the rollers f, mounted upon the extensions f of the movable jaw e of the clamp. At the two extremities of the carriage are fixed two tappets at :20, which when said carriage reaches the end of its course act, respectively, upon studs t t carried by the bolts 75 t, and thus produce the withdrawal of the bolt which retains the bar I). The carriage is provided with two handles 9 which are adapted to slide upon a shaft y of square section, which is capable of turning together with said handles when the latter are rotated. The shaft g, which is journaled in bearings upon the slides 1" 1", has mounted upon its opposite ends levers z 2, which serve to control two spring-pressed bolts r 7, engaging in holes 3 provided in bars 3 s, and thus locking the slides r r upon the latter, the distance be tween the holes 8 being equal to the distance apart of the lines of punchings. The carriage is operated in the following manner: The operator in grasping the handles 9 presses lever 79 for the purpose of withdrawing bolt 3' from the hole a, in which it is engaged, and slides the carriage along the bar I) from right to left, for example, and when the bolt j arrives over the next hole 0 it enters therein and so regulates the amplitude of the movement thus imparted to the carriage. When the carriage has reached the end of its course, the tappet :0 on striking the stud t disengages the bolt t, whereupon bar I) is free to partake in the movement imparted to the carriage until the hole u is brought opposite to the bolt 25, when the latter, under the pressure of its spring, is caused to enter hole u, and thus again lock the bar 1). During this movement the bar has been moved to an extent equal to half the distance between two successive punchings. The operator then imparts an angular movement to the two handles 9 which raises the levers z, and thus withdraws the two bolts 1 r after which the carriage is pushed so as to slide the two slides 1" 1" upon the bars 8 8 until the bolts 1" r engage in the next succeeding holes, the bar I), which has partaken in this movement, having been thus moved in a direction parallel to itself to an extent equal to the distance between two successive lines of punchings. The carriage is then again slidfalongfthe bar I), but in the reverse directionthat is to say, from left to right-the amplitude of these initial movements imparted to the carriage being regulated, as before, by the engagement ofbolt j in the holes 0 in the bar b, and when the carriage has arrived at the end of its course the operator, as before stated, effects the disengagement and shifting of the bar I), as well as the sliding of the slides 1 r along the bars 8. The carriage is then again slid from right to left and the same movements are again repeated, and so on. The withdrawal of the bolt 7' may be produced automatically by means of the machine-shaft which actuates the punch, it being for this purpose simply necessary to provide said shaft with a stud which would act at every revolution upon a lever connected with the flexible device 0.

It is to be understood that any suitable stops or provisions for limiting the successive forward movements of the carriage may be considered the equivalents of the notches, holes, or studs shown, and the guide-bars and details of the carriage may be considerably varied without departing from the invention.

No specific claim is made in the present application to the use of a single guide-bar mounted at its opposite ends in slidesas shown, for example, in Figs. 8 to 10-or to the automatic operation of the stud on the carriage by the shaft of the punching-machine, a machine embodying these features being covered only generically in the present application and being specifically covered in my applications for patent, Serial N 0. 240,861, filed January 13, 1905, and Serial N 0. 303,679, filed March 1, 1906.

I claim as my invention- 1. A device for feeding sheets into position to be acted upon in quincunx arrangement by the tool in a stamping-machine or the like, including, in combination, a carriage for holding the sheet, and a series of parallel guide-bars at intervals corresponding to the distance between successive rows of punchings, said guide-bars being provided with stops 'for limiting the successive forward movements of the carriage at intervals corresponding to the distance between consecutive punchings in a row, whereby the sheet may be fed by hand and its successive posi-, tions determined automatically.

2. A device for feeding sheets into position to be acted upon in quincunx arrangement by the tool in a stamping-machine or the like, including, in combination, a carriage for holding the sheet, a series of parallel guide-bars at intervals corresponding to the distance between successive rows of punchings, said guide-b ars being provided with stops for limiting the successive forward movements of the carriage at intervals corresponding to the distance between consecutive punchings in a row, whereby the sheet may be fed by hand and its successive positions determined automatically, and a device on the carriage adapted when in operative osition to engage said stops and adapted to be withdrawn from operative position to permit the next forward movement of the carriage.

3. A device for feeding sheets into position to be acted upon in quincunx arrangement by the tool in a stamping-machine or the like, including, in combination, a carriage d, clamping-jaws e carried thereby for holding the sheet, guide-bars b with grooves b between them parallel to the rows of punchings, said guide-bars being provided with stops at intervals corresponding to the spacings of the punchings, said carriage having a part adapted to be engaged by said stops in succession for limiting the successive forward movements of the carriage, whereby the sheet may be fed by hand in alternate directions to punch successive rows, and may be shifted at the end of each row in a direction transverse to such rows, and whereby the suc cessive positions are determined automatically.

The foregoing specification of my improved means for use in feeding sheets of metal and other material to a punching or like machine signed by me this 30th day of ARTHUR WILZIN.

'December, 1904.

Witnesses:

ARoHIBALn R. BAKER, MAURICE N. PIGNET." 

